OCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE GROWING NEXT GENERATION

If the bridge between environmentalists and fishermen was damaged before the Marine Life Protection Act, it was completely blown up after the process shut down key fishing areas along California’s coastline last year.

Anglers and commercial fishermen consider themselves the original conservationists and environmentalists, not the unfair label of “users” pinned on them by extreme environmentalists or their spokespeople.

But like fishermen before them, California’s anglers and commercial fishermen have adapted to these unfair restricted fishing areas. They’re fishing around the closures.

What remains is the fallout, the disdain and distrust of the environmental community that fishermen, especially those who worked on the process, feel even a year later. Is there any hope to rebuild that bridge between those who want to preserve everything at any cost to fishermen and those who want to conserve and take fish for the table or even practice catch-and-release?

For an answer look no further than the Mission Bay-based Ocean Discovery Institute, certainly a breath of fresh sea air in this age of stale manipulation by environmental groups of bought-off politicians and similar bureaucrats that includes a very rigged California Fish and Game Commission.

Ocean Discovery Institute was founded by Shara Fisler, a former Arizona desert girl and equestrian who found her calling and mission to grow scientists at the beach. What started as a summer camp (Aquatic Adventures) that introduced inner-city kids to ocean recreation evolved into an award-winning science-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to youth. Last year Ocean Discovery Institute earned its first Presidential Award. It also earned the Eco Ambassador award ($25,000) from SDG&E, KFMB-TV and the San Diego River Park.

Fisler and the members of her organization are most proud of the 69 ocean leaders who have been inspired by the program to get their degrees. Ocean Discovery Institute now works with 6,000 students in City Heights, with a plan to expand to 20,000 in the next five years. There’s also a plan to replicate the program and start a similar one on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.

Fisler’s Ocean Discovery Institute, which employs 17 full-time people, is a different take on environmentalism and a positive for fishermen because it involves fishermen and partners them on the water with these eager young scientists.

“I have a background in fisheries management,” Fisler said. “We integrate fisheries research into our program. It’s a personal passion of mine. It’s a great tool to teach young people about resources. It integrates all of the different components — economics, social issues, history, culture and of course science and conservation. It takes real personal relationships, and to me, personal relationships are the thing that creates bridges.”

There is no cost to any of the students. The only requirement of those who enter the program is that they, their parents or teachers commit back to it.

“We work with a high-poverty community, but we provide all of these with no barriers related to cost,” she said. “But we do require a commitment from all of our participants whether it’s students, teachers or parents. That means volunteer service, completing evaluations, teachers go through a professional development program. They all participate in focus groups afterward.”